Frankie Beverly died on September 10, 2024, at 77. The architect of the warmest sound in Black American music -- that unhurried, hymn-like funk that became the sonic signature of every family reunion, every cookout, every late-night drive home from a wedding -- he leaves behind a catalog that defined the rituals of Black joy for half a century. Before I Let Go remains his monument, but the deeper truth is that the whole of Maze's discography functions as a single extended celebration, and Frankie Beverly was its congregation leader.